Foundation Church

Discipleship Questions: 1. What is the toughest situation you've ever faced in your life? Did you lean on the Lord during that time? 2. Do you feel you fully trusted the Lord or did you struggle in that tough situation? 3. Are you facing any type of storm now? 4. Mary was a faithful servant to the Lord. How does her respond to Gabriel make you feel knowing that she stood to lose everything? 5. What does being in community look like for you? What does it mean to you personally? 6. Do you feel like at times you lose sight of what the Christmas season is really about, the coming of our Lord and Savior? What things can we do to help us not lose sight?

The New Testament opens in Luke’s gospel with a story of two righteous people and a promise neither of the expected. Interestingly the righteous life is usually full of unexpected realities and today's text will allow us to look at some of the lies believed about the lives of those who are righteous. Discipleship Questions: 1. The well known story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is often looked at only through a lense of Christmas, what did you learn about Zecharaih and Elizabeth from the text? 2. What is the one essential factor in beig made righteous? Why do you think this is? 3. What is a myth about righteous people you have heard and/or believed? 4. Why do you think God allows his people to endure suffering and shame while simultaneously calling them righteous? 5. How does Christ model for us the perfect life of a righteous person?

As the waves of sin and evil bash against our everyday lives, who or what do you look to for salvation? The answer to this question reveals who you believe God to be. He’s either impotent and standing distant or he is God, ruling history and bringing about salvation. Isaiah warns us against alliances with the gods of this world. They may offer what seems to be protection from sin and evil, but they will surely fail. God and God alone brings salvation for His people. Discipleship Questions: 1. Can you identify with the waves of threat the people of Judah experienced? If so, in what ways? 2. How are you tempted to make an alliance with a god of this world to save you or your family from the everyday threats of sin and evil? 3. Read Revelation 4-5 out loud. How does this vision of the throne room of Heaven change your view of God? 4. How does seeing Jesus as the lamb of God and the conquering lion give you reassurance that God is working out salvation in history?

Our lives are filled with ups and downs, times of great celebration and times of great pain. If we are truly to give thanks then we must understand and reckon with this truth. We cannot enjoy the good times without a contrast of the bad. In today’s text David wrestles with this exact thing. Discipleship Questions: 1. How do the highs and lows of life help us to give thanks to God? 2. Have you experienced the effects of brokenness and sin in ways other than mental and spiritual distress? 3. Why do you think that we feel the effect of sin in all areas of our life, e.g. body, mind, and spirit? 4. Where can we turn for help and healing? 5. How does the advent, and humanity of Jesus bring us hope in the midst of pain? And why should we be thankful for that?

Isaiah is asked by God to act in a symbolic way to prophecy against poor political decisions. Sadly his warning goes unheeded and trust is placed in human means rather than God’s steadfast love. It may seem silly to us but I think we’re just as guilty as those in our text of placing our hope in things other than God. Discipleship Questions: 1. Why do you think God would have Isaiah act out this symbolic prophecy? 2. In what ways are you tempted to trust in man rather than God? 3. What are your idols? 4. Why is idolatry a big deal to God? 5. What does confession and repentance for idolatry look like for you?

Our studies of the reformation in the church often leave us looking backwards and in many ways hoping for the ‘good ol days’. This is something that the reformers themselves would have never desired for us as the church. So how can we course correct? Discipleship Questions: 1. Why does the Protestant Reformation demand that we continue to look forward as a church? 2. What is the importance of this song (1 Chronicles 16) in the biblical narrative? 3. Why does David act in such a ‘reckless’ and free way as the Ark enters Jerusalem? 4. How should we respond to this beautiful song of praise? 5. Why does worship of God lead us to mission and reaching the lost?

God promises the destruction of an empire, this is not new or really that amazing when you consider that he is sovereign over all but it is interesting when we see why he brings down empires. Something that can not only bring down empires but our own lives too. Discipleship Questions: 1. Why is human pride such a pernicious sin? 2. Why does God oppose human pride? And why is he good to do so? 3. Humility is greatly valued in the scriptures, how do we grow in humility? 4. How does believing the gospel of Jesus Christ bring freedom from pride? 5. Where do you need to repent for your pride?

Our focus now turns towards the nation of Cush, a great and powerful African empire that God brings into covenant love by defeating a common enemy. The significance of this as great, and even greater when we consider the implication for us as missionaries and those who have been reached by God’s covenant love through Jesus. Discipleship Questions: 1. Why are God’s mighty acts of power in the scriptures meant not only for his people but the other nations also? 2. What do you know about the nation of Cush? Why do you think we learned so little about them in school? 3. Why is God’s action of defeating the Assyrians ultimately an act of salvation for Cush also? 4. Read Acts 8:26-39. In light of Isaiah 18:17 how does this passage make more sense? 5. What has been your experience with racism in the Church? What is a biblical and gospel-centered response to racism?

Isaiah’s prophecy is deeply embedded in the political and military workings of his day. He is speaking truth into the current reality of his world and is revealing to the people of God where their hope and trust should lie. Discipleship Questions: 1. The bible is full of historical records, why do you think this is and how does it help us trust God’s word more? 2. Why when we are comfortable and affluent do we forget God? 3. How does suffering cause us to focus on God? 4. What are some promises of God that you lean upon in difficult times? 5. Why does the world rage toward God?

Isaiah’s oracles of judgement begin with a powerful and difficult declaration against the nation of Moab. In such a powerful and seemingly ‘judgement heavy’ passage we see that the prescription for Moab’s salvation remains the same for us today. Discipleship Questions: 1. What to do you generally feel about these large difficult passage of scripture? 2. Why is it important to read and understand a difficult passage like this one (Isaiah 14:24-16:14)? 3. When you hear the words ‘God’s Judgement’ what do you immediately think of/feel? 4. What is the prescription for Moab’s salvation and why is it the same for us today? 5. How does Isaiah 16:5 bring about hope in the midst of judgement?

In a beautiful picture we get to see a glimpse of the early church gathering with one another. The description of this time is enough to make our hearts long to be back there. But obviously we can't do that. What should we do in place of this? Is this picture of community an ideal that we are unable to enjoy or is it something that we should all be longing and working toward in our relationships with one another? Discipleship Questions: 1. Have you experience belonging within a community before? What did it feel like? 2. In our passage (Acts 4:32-27), what is attractive to you? 3. What about Christian community is different to other communities that we can be a part of? 4. What commonalities exist within Christian communities no matter where they are in the world? 5. Why is unity in Christian community so important?

Peter and John's good work of healing a crippled man does not go over well with everyone. They are arrested and thrown in jail for an evening. Might this et-back deter them? Or dampen their spirits? No. There is much to learn in this passage for our faithful witness in our spheres of influence. Discipleship Questions: 1. Have you ever been opposed while sharing the gospel with someone? What happened? 2. Why is the resurrection of Jesus the core belief of the Christian faith? 3. God chose to use Peter and John, normal fishermen, for spreading the gospel. How does this bring you hope in your responsibility to share the gospel? 4. What is the importance of having the Holy Spirit in sharing the good news of Jesus? 5. Where in your life do you need to disobey the world to be obedient to Christ?

Many of us never ask the question ‘should an appreciation for the Arts and creativity play a role in the life of the church or the Christian?’ We have forgotten that it is something that God cares about not just a frivolous waste of time and energy. And our relationship with Art and creativity is linked with our sanctification process. Discipleship Questions 1. Have you spent time thinking about a primary attribute of God as a creator before? What do you notice in this aspect of God’s essence? 2. How does your appreciation of art and creativity change in a right understanding of God creating all things? 3. Why are art and faith so closely related in the human experience? 4. How does the biblical narrative or the gospel story redeem art and creativity? 5. In what ways can you apply this message into our church or in your own life either as an artist or as one who appreciates art?

Work can take many forms in our lives, but one thing is certain. We all work. God created us to work. However, in a world marred by sin and brokenness, work is difficult and often painful. If we’re honest, many times our first response to these difficulties is to complain. Paul confronts this issue of complaining and ties it to the effectiveness of our witness in a lost and dying world. When we complain we lack hope, we lack hope that Jesus is our savior and is bringing about salvation and restoration in this world. But there is good news, Jesus gives us hope and causes deep change in us that will overflow to the world around us. Discipleship Questions: 1. What comes to mind when you think of work? 2. What areas of your life are you prone to complain? How has your complaining affected the people around you? 3. Explain how complaining is often tied to a lack of hope. 4. Where does our hope come from and why does that matter? 5. Give an example of a time when you didn’t complain, but rather worked constru

Read Genesis 2:8-17 and 1 John 2:15-17 1. How do these passages affect the way you view God? 2. How do these passages affect the way you view the things God has given you? 3. Do you naturally lean more towards contentment or dissatisfaction? 4. What are some areas where you think God may want you to change your habits of consumption (no matter the area of consumption)? 5. What areas of joy do you have with respect to God’s blessings in your life?

Sexuality is a topic that continually brings forward strong emotions and is consistently brought forward in our culture. Is the church simply behind the times by not keeping up with the ever-evolving changes to sexuality? Or does the Church have a message of hope to all of us who are in one way or another broken sexually because of sin? Discipleship Questions: 1. Read Genesis 1:26-31, what do you see in the text regarding God’s original design for sexuality? 2. Why are the effects of sin so pervasive as it relates to our sexuality? 3. How does acting outside of God’s good design for sexuality hurt us? 4. In what way does Jesus bring us hope as it relates to being made whole in our sexuality? 5. What gifts has Jesus given to help us as we seek to be made new sexually?

Jesus tells us that we will always “have the poor amongst us” If that is true and God cares about the flourishing of all image bearers how do we engage with the poor? Why should we? And how do we look inward to make sure we are operating from a right place? Discipleship Questions 1. What has been your experience as it relates to poverty? 2. Why does God care about care for the poor? 3. What is so important about our hearts as it relates to engaging with poverty? 4. How have you engaged with poverty in such a way that might have hurt rather than helped? 5. Where is God asking you to act in response to his Word (Deut 15:7-11)?